Find an Expert

The Jackson School has more than 150 researchers and faculty in all facets of the earth sciences.
Use this database to find experts in any of our academic and research units. Media can also contact the
Communications Office (jbird@jsg.utexas.edu) for information
or call (512) 232-9623.

David K Arctur
Geographic Information Systems and Database Management Systems, with focus of interest in standards for interoperability of data and models for multidisciplinary geosciences research (water resources, climate, and geohazards in particular). Data and model semantics, and digital preservation of physical samples are crosscutting subthemes of interest.

James A Austin
Stratigraphic evolution of a wide range of marine and lacustrine environments around the world

Whitney Behr
Mechanics and kinematics of deformation in continental lithosphere, rheology of the crust and upper mantle, mechanisms of strain localization, experimental rock mechanics, tectonic geomorphology and long term slip rates on large-scale strike-slip faults.

Christopher J Bell
Vertebrate paleontology, North American Pliocene and Pleistocene small mammal biostratigraphy and biochronology, osteology, anatomy, and systematics of squamate reptiles and turtles, Impacts of climate change on vertebrate communities

Todd Caldwell
Dr. Caldwell is a hydrologist and geoscientist specializing in field investigations and numerical modeling associated with near-surface vadose zone hydrology, landscape evolution, and soil moisture/ET. His current research focuses on ecohydrology, soil moisture modeling and monitoring, restoration and characterization of disturbed lands, the characterization and scaling of soils and hydraulic parameters, near-surface geophysics, and parameter optimization and numerical methods.

William D Carlson
Field, analytical, and experimental studies of metamorphic petrogenesis, with emphasis on the rates and mechanisms of metamorphic reactions.
Geological applications of high-resolution X-ray computed tomography.
Analytical and computational studies of intracrystalline and intergranular diffusion.

Shirley P Dutton
Sandstone petrography and diagenesis, interpretation of diagenetic history by integration of petrographic, geochemical, and stratigraphic data; relationship of diagenesis to porosity, permeability, and other petrophysical properties of oil and gas reservoirs; timing of diagenesis and hydrocarbon maturation with respect to basin thermal and subsidence history

Peter Eichhubl
Fault and fracture mechanics, diagenesis and low-temp. geochemistry, fluid flow and transfer processes in sedimentary basins, deformation mechanisms of the upper crust, structural control of mass and heat transfer in sedimentary basins, effects of chemical mass transfer on the mechanical and hydraulic behavior of fractures and faults, chemical interaction between fluids and minerals

Robert L Folk
Sedimentary Petrology. studying mineralogy and nannobiology of hot springs in Italy, the role of nannobacteria in creating carbonate rocks. work on cherts, opals, sulfides of iron and other metals, and metal oxides, nannobacteria in martian meteorites and weathering of igneous rocks by nannobacteria under a variety of conditions in Tahiti, West Texas, and Lombardia, Italy.

Nicholas W Hayman
Currently active projects include studies of ocean-crustal faulting, the dynamics of continental rifting, evolution of forearc basins and accretionary prisms, and mudrock microstructure. Also many projects involve sailing on research vessels to study active spreading centers in various corners of the globe.

Mark A Helper
Dr. Helper is a field geologist, a generalist whose interests span igneous and metamorphic petrology, structural geology, tectonics, mineralogy and planetary field geology. His current research explores geochemical and isotopic similarities of Proterozoic and Archean crust in East Antarctica and the southwestern U.S., the Precambrian geology of Texas, and the origin of epidote blueschists in the Klamath Mountains of northern California. Recent senior honors theses under his supervision have examined the mineralogy of Texas topaz, hydration and textural patterns in Balmorhea blue agate, and the distribution and origin of joints in the Hueco Tanks syenite.
Working with NASA colleagues, he is also involved in analog planetary field research that examines the utility and efficacy of robotically gathering field data, both as a prelude to and follow-on to human geologic field work on the Moon and Mars. As co-chair of FEAT (Field Exploration and Analysis Team), he helped develop a new curriculum for the geological field training of astronauts and currently co-leads NASA's astronaut field geology training exercises. He also teaches field mapping techniques to NASA engineers and scientists who are developing capabilities for exploring the surface of asteroids, the Moon and Mars.

Susan D Hovorka
Geologic carbon sequestration in deep sedimentary environments as part of carbon capture and storage. PI of the Gulf Coast Caron Center (www.gulfcoastcarbon.org) focused on research relevant to commercial development of geologic sequestration in regions where it is both needed and possible. Monitoring field projects.
Petrography and sedimentology supporting hydrogeology in karst and contaminated systems.
K-12 and public outreach and education.

Gary A Kocurek
Sedimentology, geomorphology and stratigraphy of aeolian systems; fluid flow and grain transport; bedform dynamics and pattern evolution of dune fields; the stratigraphic record of aeolian and related systems on Earth and Mars.

Toti E Larson
Dr. Larson is a stable isotope geochemist specializing in novel methods of light isotope measurement that include silicate laser fluorination, compound-specific carbon isotope measurement, and gas chromatography. His current research focuses on developing tracers to probe shallow (vadose zone) and deeper CO2 sequestration and unconventional reservoirs. He integrates experimental flow through column experiments with diffusion-advection modeling to understanding the behavior of tracer compounds in a variety of substrates. He also couples light isotope fractionation with these tracer studies to understand molecular interactions during transport.

John C Lassiter
Earth's origin and evolution, isotope and trace element geochemistry, the role of crust and lithospheric mantle recycling in the generation of mantle chemical heterogeneity, the origin and distribution of water and other volatile elements in the Earth's interior, and the thermal and chemical evolution of the Earth's core and core/mantle boundary

Maria-Aikaterini Nikolinakou
Maria-Katerina Nikolinakou is currently a Research Associate at the Bureau of Economic Geology, Jackson School of Geosciences, at the University of Texas at Austin. She works for the AGL and GeoFluids consortia.
Maria is a Civil/Geotechnical Engineer. She received her Science Doctorate on Theoretical Soil Mechanics from MIT in 2008.
She holds a M.Sc. in Geotechnical Engineering from MIT and a Civil Engineering degree from NTUA, Greece.
Before joining the Jackson School, she worked for Shell Exploration and Production on Reservoir Geomechanics.
Her current research topics include:
- Modeling of stresses and pore pressures in sediments bounding salt bodies
- Prediction of stresses and pore pressures at the crest of dipping structures
- Borehole stability
- Poromechanical modeling of basin sediments, including transient pore pressure dissipation
- Geomechanical pore-pressure prediction
- Numerical modeling in salt tectonics.
Areas of Expertise:
- Geotechnical Engineering
- Constitutive modeling
- Coupled stress-pore pressure prediction
- Dipping structures
- Borehole stability
- Poromechanical modeling of basin sediments
- Transient pore pressure dissipation
- Salt Tectonics
- Numerical modeling: Abaqus, ELFEN

Timothy B Rowe
Vertebrate paleontology, evolution and development of the vertebrate skeleton, phylogenetic systematics, the early history of mammals and their extinct relatives among Synapsida, the history of birds and their extinct relatives among Dinosauria, the history of other amniotes, high-resolution X-ray computed tomography, CT scanner, DigiMorph, informatics

Bridget R Scanlon
Evaluation of the impact of climate variability and land use change on groundwater recharge, application of numerical models for simulating variably saturated flow and transport, controls on nitrate contamination in aquifers

Rebecca C Smyth
Current: Design and oversight of monitoring for CO2 at geologic sequestration sites; hydrogeologic characterization of industrial sites where subsurface materials and groundwater have been contaminated or have the potential of becoming contaminated, including environmental assessment of sites impacted by petroleum exploration and production activities. Past: Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) and Global Positioning System (GPS) mapping, and hydrogeology of ash-flow tuffs,

Harm J Van Avendonk
Van Avendonk is an active-source seismologist who specializes in the acquisition and inversion of seismic refraction data on land and at sea. Often these seismic refraction data are used for a tomographic inversion. The resultant seismic velocity models help us to interpret the composition of the Earth’s crust and mantle, the geometry of sedimentary basins, and the structure of plate boundaries.

Changbing Yang
Numerical modeling of multiphase flow and contaminant transport in both the unsaturated and saturated zones; geochemical modeling and reactive transport; inverse modeling of non-isothermal flow and biogeochemical reactive transport modeling; numerical modeling of soil organic carbon dynamics; soil thermal properties and water fluxes measurements using heat-pulse techniques; multiobjective optimization models for management and sustainable use of water resources.

Zong-Liang Yang
Dr. Yang's primary research interest is to understand the exchanges of momentum, radiation, heat, water, carbon dioxide, and other materials between the atmosphere and the Earth surface spanning from small (short) to very large (long) scales. This includes analysis of in-situ and remotely-sensed data for the Earth's surface, and modeling studies of weather, climate and hydrology at local, regional and global scales.

Duncan A Young
Ice-rock physical interactions in an ice cap context, tectonic evolution of the younger planetary crusts

Michael H Young
Ecohydrology of arid and semiarid landscapes; groundwater recharge in both managed agriculture and natural (arid and semi-arid) systems; influence of soil structure and vegetation on water cycling; design and implementation of monitoring systems for above-ground and near-surface below ground environments.